Chapter 2

Foundations of Government
Section 1:
Section 2:
Section 3:

Why Americans Have Governments

The First Government
A New Constitution

Section 1: Why Americans Have Governments

The Main Idea
Government plays an essential role in every country. A
countrys government affects the lives of its people.
Often, it affects people around the world.
Reading Focus
What are two main types of government?
What are the purposes of government?
How does the U.S. government guarantee freedom to
its citizens?

Section 1: Why Americans Have Governments

A. Two types of governments

1. Non-democratic
a. Monarchies
i. Monarchies today
b. Dictators
i. Force
ii. Oligarchy
iii. Totalitarian

Section 1: Why Americans Have Governments

A. Two types of governments

1. Non-democratic
c. Theocracy
i. Rule

Section 1: Why Americans Have Governments

A. Two types of governments

2. Democratic
a. Democracy
i. Direct democracy
ii. Representative democracy
iii. Republic

B. Purpose of Government
1. Helping people
2. Provide services
3. Provide laws

C. Guaranteeing Freedom
1. Structure
2. Beliefs
3. Guarantees
4. Rights

Section 1: Why Americans Have Governments

Types of Governments

Characteristics of Governments

Democracy

People rule directly or indirectly

Direct
Representative
Monarchy

All voters make decisions together.

People elect representatives.
Ruled by a king or queen

Absolute

Monarchs have total control.

Dictatorship

A person or small group has

absolute power and does not answer
to the people.

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

The Main Idea
The American ideals that people should rule themselves and that
government should protect human rights are clearly set forth
in the Declaration of Independence.
Reading Focus
Why is the Declaration of Independence so important?
What were the Articles of Confederation, and what were their
weaknesses?
What was the effect of a weak national government on the
United States?

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

A. Events Towards Independence

1. No Representation
2. 1765 Stamp Act
a. No taxation without representation
b. Repealed
3. 1774 Continental Congress

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

A. Events Towards Independence

4. King George III sends troops
a. Patrick Henrys response
5. April 1775Lexington and Concord

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

B. 1776Declaration of Independence
Representatives from 13 colonies meet

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

B. 1776Declaration of Independence
4. Declaration and human rights
a. Statement of grievances against Great Britain
b. Power of government should ONLY come from the consent
of the governed
c. More than just call for independence. States that the purpose
of government is to ensure human rights
d. We hold these truths
5. Ideals of American government
a. Each person has equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness

 We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to
secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed

Did you know?

Mum Bett, a Massachusetts

slave, believed that the words

all men are created equal
should apply to her and other
enslaved African Americans.
She successfully sued for her
freedom in 1781.

 EXPLAIN HOW WEAKNESSES IN THE

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND

DANIEL SHAYS REBELLION LED TO A
CALL FOR A STRONGER CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT.

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

C. Articles of the Confederation:
Adopted 1777, approved 1781
NOT a plan to provide government
Just a confederation an association of separate groups

a. Firm league of friendship

b. Equal but separate

Because of Revolution feared a strong central government
These articles strongly limited national government and
preserved state sovereignty, or absolute local power

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

D. The Need for a Change

Weak central government resulted in problems
States coined own money limited trade. Also, no national
currency. How would gov. pay war debts?
Disputes with boundaries and trade
After War, trade with other countries slowed. American businesses
suffered.
Army who would defend the country?
Executive branch who would ensure that the laws passed by
Congress would be followed?

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

D. The Need for a Change

Results:
U.S. started looking weak to other nations.
National security was threatened.
National government was powerless to make
important decisions to solve these problems.

In ISB: Make an inference

The U.S. government began as a

Confederation. Weve summarized many of

the problems with this arrangement. What
might have caused everyone even those who
loved local freedoms to be willing to give
more power to the government?

Answer: Angry Armed Farmers!

Armed Uprisings Threaten Country

1786-1787
Upset about tax collections and judgments for
debt, farmers in states from New Hampshire
to South Carolina, took up arms against the
government.

Most serious: Shays Rebellion

1786-1787 in Massachusetts, 4,000 armed farmers
-led by a former commander in the Revolutionary
army - attacked a national arsenal, or weapons
factory. They were upset about the economic
situation and their inability as voting citizens to
change it. Bad harvests, little trade, and high taxes
threatened their farms. If they lost their farms they
lost their full citizenship and vote. (Remember: In
the 1780s ONLY the men who owned land could
vote.)

 Immediately, it became clear that the country

required a stronger national government to

stop future rebellions. Why not fix the taxes,
trade laws, and currency while theyre at it?
Those who wanted a new form of government
at the national level mentioned these
dangerous rebellions as justification for
replacing the Articles of Confederation.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ImIEcs

TEVo

Homework: Letter to the editor in ISBs

Imagine that you are a farmer living in

Virginia in the 1780s. In a letter to the editor

of your local newspaper, describe the effect of
the Articles of Confederation on your life and
community. Recommend what action should
be taken to improve the situation.

Section 2: The First U.S. Government

difficult to pass
laws because
9 out of 13
states approval
was needed

no judicial
branch to
interpret
laws

difficult to change Articles

because unanimous vote was
needed

WEAKNESSES OF
THE ARTICLES OF
CONFEDERATION

no executive branch
to enforce
laws

lacked
power to
collect
taxes

no means to
regulate
trade with
foreign
countries

Section 3: A New Constitution

The Main Idea
The framers of the U.S. Constitution drew upon a history of
democratic ideals while developing a document that would
establish a new, stronger federal government.
Reading Focus
What historical principles of government influenced the
delegates to the Constitutional Convention?
How did the U.S. government become stronger under the
Constitution?
How did the viewpoints of Federalists and Antifederalists
differ, and how were these differences resolved?

 Civics Study Guide

Know the definitions of autocratic, oligarchy,

democracy, civics, citizen, and government.

Provide examples for how the U.S. is a government

by the people.
Be able to name the responsibilities a citizen has.

What happens when citizens dont participate in

government?
Look over your notes about citizenship. Understand

the terms native-born, citizen, immigrant,

naturalization, alien, and refugee. Be able to present
an argument using these terms and past American
history to connect these ideas to current political
events.

Civics Study Guide

Understand how someone can be a citizen and describe

the process for an immigrant to become a citizen.

Be able to describe the problems associated with the

forms of government present under a) a dictator such as

King George III, b) the Articles of Confederation.
Be able to name the responsibilities a citizen has. What

happens when citizens dont participate in government?

Be able to draw the following models of government:

unitary, confederacy, and federal. Be able to unpack

these drawings in sentences that describe for each
model the relationship between the central government
and the local government.

 Know the definitions of ratification,

amendment, and compromise.

Know how the viewpoints of the Federalists
and Anti-federalists differed and be able to
explain how these differences were resolved.
What impact did their compromise have on
our Constitution?

 By 1787 people realized that the Articles of

Confederation needed to be fixed.

The states called a convention where the
delegates wrote a completely new plan for
government. This plan became the
Constitution.

Section 3: A New Constitution

A. Constitutional Convention
1. Need for a stronger central government
2. May 1787 in Philadelphia

Section 3: A New Constitution

B. Convention and History

1. Worlds oldest written constitution
2. Influenced by historical democratic documents

Section 3: A New Constitution

C. British Historical Documents

1. Magna Carta
1215 English people couldnt be arrested apart from jury by

peers

2. English Bill of Rights

1689 freedom from: taxation w/o rep, cruel punishments, right

to bear arms, and many others

Section 3: A New Constitution

C. British Historical Documents (cont)

3. British Parliament
The British lawmaking body was bi-cameral (it had 2 houses),

one appointed by the King, the other elected by the people

Why would this be important?

Section 3: A New Constitution

C. Other Influences
4. Mayflower Compact
5. Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau
(government exists by consent of governed we the
people)
6. Virginia statutes of Religious Freedom
(written by Thomas Jefferson)

Section 3: A New Constitution

D. Need for Secrecy

Wanted to discuss freely.
Didnt want to be pressured by outsiders.
Taking a public stand would make it more difficult to

change position after hearing debate.

We know what happened because James Madison kept a
journal (hes sometimes called Father of Constitution)

Section 3: A New Constitution

E. Writing the Constitution

Areas of Compromise:
A. Federalism
a. Federalists strong nat. gov.
b. Anti-Federalists strong nat. gov. brought back
English tyranny
Compromise - central gov. needed more power
BUT states should retain power to govern own affairs
? what type of government is this?

ratification:
approval by a
formal vote

compromise: an
agreement where both
sides give up part of their
demands in order to
reach a solution to a
problem

Section 3: A New Constitution

E. Writing the Constitution

B. Representation
a. Virginia Plan rep. according to size
b. New Jersey Plan equal rep
c. Connecticut Compromise (aka Great Compromise)
Senate each state would have equal representation
House representation according to size

Section 3: A New Constitution

E. Writing the Constitution

4. Individual Rights
a. Bill of Rights

Section 3: A New Constitution

F. Constitution is Completed
1. September 1787
2. Ben Franklin

Section 3: A New Constitution

A STRONGER U.S.
GOVERNMENT

Powers of the National

Government
Print money
Raise armed forces
Regulate trade
Set taxes

Powers Dealing with Laws

Provide a president to carry
out the countrys laws
Establish the Supreme Court
and other national courts to
interpret laws

Chapter 2 Wrap-Up
1. Whataretwoofthemajorfactorsthatshape
acountrysgovernment?
2. Howareademocracyandothertypesof
governmentsdifferent?
3. Whatweresomeoftheproblemsthecountryfaced
afterindependencewasdeclared?
4. InwhatwaysdidthecolonistsEnglishpolitical
heritageinfluenceAmericanideasaboutgovernment
andindividualrights?
5. WhatwastheoutcomeoftheConstitutionalConvention?
6. WhatweretheargumentsoftheFederalistsand
Antifederalists?